Irvine happy to give Omnium a break for now

After his seventh place in the Omnium track world championships in April and a solid showing in the Olympic Games in August, Martyn Irvine is back in action again in the velodrome, lining out today on day one of the Glasgow World Cup.

The multiple national champion is one of three Irish riders who are competing. Irvine will ride both the individual pursuit and the scratch race, choosing those events to keep mentally fresh after a long pre-Olympic Omnium campaign.

He will begin with the scratch race qualifier this morning, and said yesterday he was looking forward to the competition. “I’m really excited about this weekend. It’s the first in over two years that I’ve done something without the Omnium in my mind,” he said. “The lack of stress of the Omnium almost feels enjoyable. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Also taking part in Glasgow is Caroline Ryan, who goes in the women’s Omnium event. She was third in that event in the world championships. World Cycling Centre trainee Eoin Mullen will race in the sprint and keirin events. Their races are tomorrow and Sunday.

The 2013 world championships will take place in Minsk in February. Before then, Ireland will send a team to the Mexico World Cup in January.

In other news, Cycling Ireland’s annual awards night takes place tomorrow evening in the Radisson Blu hotel in Dublin’s city centre.

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